27 December, 2011
Politics:
Legislative Chamber’s committee discusses political system modernization
ASSC and UNICEF Promote Child Rights among Civil Servants
Economics:
KNOC Goes for Exploration
Society:
M&TVA 2011 best creators awarded
Uzbekistan moves one place up in FIFA ranking
Odil Ahmedov, Vadim Abramov named best in Uzbekistan
POLITICS
Legislative Chamber’s committee discusses political system modernization
Committee of the Legislative Chamber of Oliy Majlis on legislation and judicial-legal issues held a seminar “Issues on modernization of political system of Uzbekistan and tasks for further improving lawmaking activity” on 23 December 2011.
Representatives of the Legislative Chamber of Oliy Majlis, Academy for State and Social Construction under the President of Uzbekistan, Institute of monitoring of current legislation under the President of Uzbekistan, Ministry of Justice and Tashkent State Law Institute participated at the event.
The participants discussed role and importance of the Concept on further deepening democratic reforms and forming civil society in Uzbekistan, proposed by the Uzbek President Islam Karimov at the joint session of parliament in November 2010 in modernization of political systems of the country, development and improvement of lawmaking, increasing role of political parties in democratization of state power and management.
Introduced changes and amendments to the Constitution of Uzbekistan and some legislative acts became new stage in development of political system in the country. Adopted measures improved quality of lawmaking and broadened authorities of the parliament and strengthened parliamentary control over execution power.
At the same time, they helped to enhance role and significance of political parties in lawmaking in solving important state issues.
During the meeting, the participants made proposals and recommendations for modernization of political system of Uzbekistan and further improvement of lawmaking activities. (Source: UzDaily.com)
ASSC and UNICEF Promote Child Rights among Civil Servants
A UNICEF-supported resource centre to train civil servants on the issues of child rights and wellbeing was opened at the Academy of State and Social Construction under the President of Uzbekistan today with a photo exhibition entitled “All Rights for All Children.”
The inauguration was attended by representatives of UNICEF, the Academy, regional and local government staff that is currently enrolled in various in-service training courses of the Academy.
“Civil servants at central and local levels play a very important role in ensuring the wellbeing of children. They can ensure that children and women are at the top of the governance agenda by making policies and programmes responsive to children’s rights. They can also allocate more local resources to improve the situation of the most vulnerable and make sure these resource are effectively used,” said UNICEF Representative Jean-Michel Delmotte during the opening ceremony.
“UNICEF’s cooperation with the Academy helps equip regional and district-level officials with necessary skills and knowledge to support child-centered action.”
The resource centre is established under the joint initiative of the Academy of State and Social Construction and UNICEF to conduct thematic discussions supported by the UNICEF team. This partnership is part of the Country Programme of Cooperation for 2010-2015 and focuses on strengthening capacity of government servants at all levels and across all sectors to prioritize children’s rights in social policy development and implementation.
In the past five years more than seven hundred local and regional government officials and regional representatives of line ministries were introduced to results based management (RBM) technique. The RBM module has now been included into the curricula of the academy. Local government officials were also trained in child rights to ensure that increased capacity in planning, management and monitoring would facilitate more effective use of resources for the wellbeing of women and children.
The new resource centre will also serve as a platform for knowledge sharing between the Academy, UNICEF and other partner organizations, including the National Human Rights Centre, Ombudsman’s Office, Cabinet Ministries, civil society organisations and NANNOUz. It is planned that the centre will host lectures and roundtable meetings with key national policy and decision makers and visiting international experts on issues related to child wellbeing.
The photo exhibition is dedicated to child rights and their implementation in daily life. A selection of articles from the Convention on the Rights of the Child is depicted through some of the best photographs taken by a prominent UNICEF photographer Giacomo Pirozzi in different parts of the world, including Uzbekistan. Each of the 15 exhibition panels illustrates one of the key child rights ‘in action’ with examples of children from Uzbekistan as part of a larger assortment of countries and contexts across the world. It will remind all of us who see it that rights are universal, interrelated and to be enjoyed by every child without discrimination. The exhibition will be on display till 5 January 2012. (Source: UzDaily.com)
ECONOMY
KNOC Goes for Exploration
Korean company to drill exploration well in Farghona region.
Korea National Oil Corporation (KNOC) will invest $89.4 million over the next 5 years in the exploration on the West Farghona and Chinobod investment blocks in Farghona region of Uzbekistan.
This is stipulated in the agreement signed between Uzbekneftgaz and KNOC. During the first 3 years, the Korean company will invest at least $29.4 million and will conduct seismic tomography of 1200 line km, and drill one exploration well in western Farghona.
The Korean company has acquired the right to assign its full rights and responsibilities to a specialized company KNOC Fergana II Ltd (Malaysia). At the same time Korean National Oil Corporation in the course of exploration will hire at least 70-80% of the employees among Uzbek citizens and provide them the opportunity to get special training.
Uzbek suppliers and contractors reserved preferential right, other things being equal, to supply goods and services. Uzbekistan-based businesses and organizations supplying materials, works and services to the operator, are exempt from value added tax on the relevant volume of the materials and services.
Today, KNOC is also working on Namangan-Tergacha and Chust-Pop investment blocks in Farghona region and as part of a consortium of investors is involved in geological study of the Uzbek part of Aral Sea. (Source: Ut.uz)
SOCIETY
M&TVA 2011 best creators awarded
The awarding ceremony of the best creative workers in directions of music, television and video art – M&TVA 2011 was held in Turkistan palace.
The award was founded by the Fund “Forum of Culture and Arts of Uzbekistan” jointly with a number of creative organizations.
Cultural and art workers, athletes, filmmakers and media professionals, as well as the representatives of the public took part in it.
Various cultural events, presentations, Uzbekistan Culture and Art Days held by the fund in such countries like France, Spain, Japan, Switzerland, South Korea, China, Russia and the USA demonstrate the ancient and rich spiritual heritage of Uzbekistan, high creative and intellectual potential of its people and the abilities of talented youth.
The main purpose of the traditional project M&TVA is to support and encourage the creative personalities.
The winners in various categories were awarded with prizes, diplomas and gifts.
A big concert with the participation of artists and young performers took place. (Source: UzA News Agency)
Uzbekistan moves one place up in FIFA ranking
FIFA, a world football governing body, published new ranking of national teams on 21 December 2011.
Uzbekistan national team is on the 75th place in recent FIFA ranking, or jumped one place up compared to previous ranking.
According to the ranking, Uzbekistan national team has 449 points. Uzbekistan is on the sixth place in Asia after Japan, Australia, South Korea, Iran and China.
Spain is on the top of the ranking with 1,564 points. The Netherlands and Germany are on the second and third places respectively. (Source: UzDaily.com)
Odil Ahmedov, Vadim Abramov named best in Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan Football Federation named the best player, the best coach and the best referee of the season 2011.
The winners were determined in line with the survey conducted among sport journalists of Uzbekistan by the federation.
So, Anzhi Makhachkala midfielder Odil Akhmedov has been named the best player of Uzbekistan in 2011. He collected more points compared to Aleksander Geinrikh and Server Djeperov.
Uzbekistan head coach Vadim Abramov received the award for the best coach of the country in 2011. Aleksei Efstafeev and Anatoliy Demyanenko shared the second and the third place.
The best referee of the Asia for last four years Ravshan Irmatov has been named as the best official in Uzbekistan. (Source: UzDaily.com)